Category: free speech

The White House Correspondents Dinner

The annual inappropriate schmoozefest, also known as the White House Correspondents dinner takes place this Saturday.   The whole idea of journalists yucking it up with politicians at fancy Washington events only confirms what most Americans think- that the Media is elitist and not interested in holding government leaders accountable.  Rem Rieder from the American Journalism Review has criticized this event for years; here’s his piece from 2012.050506WHcorresDinner

Here’s a link to Stephen Colbert’s 2006 speech which ruffled the Washington Media’s feathers.

LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling

The owner of the LA Clippers is banned for life from the NBA and fined $2.6 million after audiotape of several racist comments he made during a conversation with his girlfriend is released.DonaldSterlingFrom the looks of this guy he must be an exceptional speaker since his First Amendment right of $peech attracts such young and beautiful women.

Can you hear me now?

SCOTUScellphonesSMThe Supreme Court hears 2 arguments today about whether the police can search the cell phones of suspects they arrest before obtaining an search warrant.  Since most people today own smartphones which contain all sorts of private information, what the justices eventually decide will impact us all.  My first question is, how many justices actually use cell phones?

Russian cartoonist Victor Bogorad

While I was at the conference in Caen I met the Russian cartoonist Victor Bogorad. Although I speak no Russian and Victor no English, we did discover that both of us had a limited ability to speak in German so we were able to communicate a little. One of the best things about being among cartoonists though, is that we really don’t need words. Someone will inevitably pick up a pen and start to draw- as Victor did continuously. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of several of Victor’s charming wordless sketches:
VictorBogoradSketches

Day 3- Memorial de Caen cartoon conference

Panel: “Cartooning in war time”
Cartoonists from Palestine, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, and Russia discuss working in countries under repressive governments and during wartime.

Sabaaneh/ Iran Mohammad Sabaaneh, Palestine
“The most hard thing a cartoonist faces in the Arab world… is the audience”

Alizadah, Iran Javad Alizadeh, Iran
“If I think about danger, I would never draw a cartoon”

Bogorad/ Russia Victor Bogorad, Russia
“Most magazines and newspapers prefer not to deal with the subject” (Putin and Ukraine)

Gueddar/ Morocco Khalid Gueddar, Morocco
“Sex, Religion, Royal family” (taboos in Morocco)

Lounis/ Algeria Djamel Lounis, Algeria
“No satirical reviews in Algeria anymore (due to) repressive laws concerning journalists”

Day 2- Memorial de Caen cartoon conference

The cartoonists were taken on a tour of the museum and D-Day landings on Thursday. The museum is divided into sections, beginning with the events leading up to World War II.  Propaganda posters during Vichy FranceI found the area dealing with Germany in the early 30’s especially interesting because it shows how intolerance and fear enabled Nazism to gain power in Germany.

D-day beachAmerican cemetery